Eleven materials, each from somewhere.

• Bergamot

  Citrus

  Calabria, cold-pressed peel

  Sharp and green, and gone within the hour. Every fragrance we make opens on it.

  Used in: Orris & Ash, The Long Afternoon

• Black pepper

  Spice

  Kerala, steam-distilled berry

  Dry heat at the opening. It reads as lift rather than spice.

  Used in: Orris & Ash, Vyse Street

• Neroli

  Flower

  Nabeul, distilled blossom

  The longest-lasting of our top notes. It carries the opening into the heart.

  Used in: The Long Afternoon

• Lavender

  Herb

  Haute-Provence, flowering tops

  Camphor in the morning, soft by the afternoon.

  Used in: The Long Afternoon, Vyse Street

• Jasmine

  Flower

  Grasse, absolute

  Rich and a little animal underneath. We use it at 1% and never above.

  Used in: The Long Afternoon

• Rose absolute

  Flower

  Isparta, absolute

  Three thousand flowers to the gram, and the most expensive line in any formula.

  Used in: Orris & Ash

• Orris

  Root

  Tuscany, rhizome aged six years

  Powdery, cool and violet-like. It is why the house is named for it.

  Used in: Orris & Ash

• Oakmoss

  Moss

  Balkans, IFRA-compliant absolute

  Inky, damp and green. The colour of this website comes from it.

  Used in: Orris & Ash, Vyse Street

• Sandalwood

  Wood

  Western Australia, plantation heartwood

  Milky and slow. Still on the paper on the third day.

  Used in: The Long Afternoon, Vyse Street

• Hay absolute

  Grass

  Loire, cut-grass absolute

  Tobacco, honey and the inside of a barn in August.

  Used in: The Long Afternoon

• Frankincense

  Resin

  Dhofar, hand-sorted tears

  Bright and smoky at once, and the last thing standing on every blotter.

  Used in: Orris & Ash, Vyse Street, Blotter Twelve

Photographs show each material in general, not the individual lot we buy. Every formula is IFRA-compliant; oakmoss is used as the restricted, low-atranol fraction.